if we had a bipartisan, avoid the fiscal cliff and pay down the debt type of agreement it would be the best thing that could happen. the market would go up and we would be liking like our future was brighter than a lot of americans think it is today. >>neil: are you smoking anything at all? >>guest: drinking a little coffee. >>neil: quickly, senator, i know you have to go the congressional black caucus has come out with a statement saying, really, leave entitlements alone and focus on hiking taxes. that is the gist of the statement. what do you think of that? >>guest: it does not do it. hiring some people -- higher income people pay a disproportional share of the taxes. and they should. but if you bring the rates back to the rate before president bush it doesnot raise enough to get us to ball. you have to curb the increase in spending on the entitlement programs. if you don't do that, and they are the biggest driver of debt, so, the american people, i think, are ready for us to do something that looks according to conventional politics like a bad idea politically, but, actually, i thin